Facial expression recognition from webcam based on active shape models and support vector machines

Abstract

This paper introduces an application that uses a webcam and aims to recognize emotions of an elderly from his/her facial expression in real-time. Six basic emotions (Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Fear, Disgust and Surprise) as well as a Neutral state are distinguished. Active shape models are applied for feature extraction, the Cohn-Kanade, JAFFE and MMI databases are used for training, and support vector machines (ν- SVM) are employed for facial expression classification. In the future, the application is thought to be the starting point to enhance the mood of the elderly by external stimuli.